NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man’s visit to Italy strengthens traditional friendship, creates new momentum for strategic partnership
WVR - On the occasion of National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man's upcoming official visit to Italy, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Phuong Anh shared with The World and Vietnam Report about the significance, focus of the visit, and the highlights in the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Partnership.
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| National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man will attend IPU-152 in Istanbul, Turkey, conduct several bilateral activities in Turkey, and pay an official visit to the Republic of Italy. |
Ambassador, could you please share the significance and key focus areas of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man's visit to the Republic of Italy this time?
The official visit to the Republic of Italy by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man holds special diplomatic significance. It marks his first overseas trip in the new term and is the first official visit by a Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman to Italy in over 10 years.
The visit aims to implement the foreign policy of the 14th National Party Congress: independence, self-reliance, resilience, peace, friendship, cooperation, and development through multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations; developing foreign relations in the new era, commensurate with the historical, cultural stature, and position of the country; promoting foreign relations and international integration as a crucial, regular task. The visit demonstrates Vietnam's regard for Italy – an important partner in the European Union, while reaffirming the high-level leadership's determination of both countries to enhance cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Italian Parliament, further deepening the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Partnership.
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| Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Phuong Anh. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Italy) |
During the visit, high-level engagements include meetings with President Sergio Mattarella and working sessions with leaders of the Italian House of Representatives and Senate, interactions with the Vietnam-Italy Friendship Parliamentary Group, and strengthening party channel cooperation. This is also an opportunity for both sides to exchange, review, and orient the completion of legal frameworks, creating a favorable foundation for expanding bilateral cooperation and upgrading relations in the future.
The visit also creates new momentum to boost economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries, providing new impetus for the growth of bilateral trade turnover (currently nearly 7.5 billion USD). Effectively leveraging the EVFTA, along with promoting cooperation in new and substantive fields such as innovation, processing and manufacturing industries, high technology, and renewable energy, contributes to enhancing the quality and efficiency of economic cooperation between the two countries.
Overall, the visit not only contributes to nurturing the traditional friendship between the peoples of the two countries but also lays the foundation and new momentum for the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Partnership to continue developing comprehensively, substantively, and sustainably in the new phase, in line with the common interests and expectations of both sides.
Recently, during the reception of the Ambassador after the presentation of the Letter of Credence (March 26), President Sergio Mattarella emphasized that Vietnam is Italy's leading important partner in Southeast Asia. Ambassador, could you evaluate the major potential areas for cooperation between the two countries in the coming time?
President Sergio Mattarella holds great affection for Vietnam and its people and values the potential for comprehensive development between the two countries. His assessment affirms the level of political trust and Vietnam's increasingly high position in Italy's foreign policy in the dynamic Southeast Asia region. This is a great honor and a clear testament to the deepening Strategic Partnership between the two countries. On this basis, cooperation between Vietnam and Italy in the coming time has ample room for strong development, particularly in the following areas:
Firstly, economic, trade, and investment cooperation remains a crucial pillar. Bilateral trade turnover has continuously increased in recent years, reinforcing Vietnam's position as Italy's third-largest trading partner in ASEAN. The two countries have complementary economic structures: Vietnam has advantages in production, a large, dynamic market, while Italy excels in high-tech processing, manufacturing technology, design, textiles, footwear, renewable energy, and digital transformation.
Effectively leveraging the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will further expand trade exchanges, especially in sectors such as textiles, footwear, mechanical engineering, processed agricultural products, and high-quality food. Additionally, Italian investment in Vietnam has the potential to increase, especially in supporting industries, processing technology, and green production. Commitments to support Italian businesses investing in Vietnam from SACE, Simest, and Leonardo's opening of a representative office in Vietnam are very positive signals.
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| Vietnamese Ambassador to the Republic of Italy Nguyen Phuong Anh presenting the Letter of Credence to Italian President Sergio Mattarella. (Source: VNA) |
Secondly, cooperation in green transition, digital transformation, and innovation is a field rich in potential. Italy is one of the leading European countries in circular economy, renewable energy, and heritage conservation. Both sides can enhance cooperation in renewable energy (wind, solar power), energy-saving technology, water resource management, and sustainable urban development. This is also a field aligned with the EU's strategic priorities and opens up opportunities to access green finance. Italy's commitment to contribute 250 million USD within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) is a highlight, opening up significant cooperation opportunities in clean energy, helping Vietnam fulfill its net-zero commitment and sustainable development.
Thirdly, culture-tourism and people-to-people exchanges. Promoting image promotion, expanding flight routes, and enhancing cooperation between localities and cultural organizations will contribute to increasing two-way tourist numbers, while strengthening understanding and trust between the peoples of the two countries.
Finally, cooperation in multilateral and global fields is also of significant importance. The two countries continue to closely coordinate at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, ASEAN-EU cooperation, thereby contributing to peace, stability, and sustainable development in the region and the world.
I believe that the Vietnam-Italy bilateral relationship, with high political trust, a solid traditional friendship foundation, along with great potential cooperation areas in economy, trade, culture, education, and people, is contributing to a bright prospect for the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Partnership in the new phase.
Italy's processing and manufacturing industry is very strong but has not had much cooperation with Vietnam. How can this strength complement Vietnam's development goals in the coming time, and what are the directions for the two countries to leverage each other's strengths, Ambassador?
Italy is a developed economy, world-renowned for its highly advanced processing and manufacturing industry, especially in precision mechanics, design, fashion, household goods, and supporting technology, with the famous "Made in Italy" brand. Meanwhile, Vietnam is in the phase of accelerating industrialization and modernization, aiming to enhance production capacity and added value in global supply chains. This is an ideal complement for the two economies.
Italy's strengths can supplement Vietnam's development goals such as enhancing industrial competitiveness, helping Vietnam shift its industrial structure towards modernization, creating higher quality and value products, deeply participating in global value chains; developing supporting industries, Italy can be an ideal partner for investment in production, human resource training, technology transfer, providing opportunities to access advanced technologies in automation, smart production, green solutions in production, in line with Vietnam's sustainable development orientation.
However, cooperation and expansion of investment in the processing and manufacturing industry face many barriers, notably the lack of synchronization in Vietnam's supporting ecosystem as Vietnam's supporting industry currently does not meet the stringent technical standards of Italy's machinery system, leading to difficulties in localizing components and maintaining the stability of the production line.
Vietnam's technical workforce, though strong in operation, is limited in system design capabilities and process optimization, as seen at the Piaggio Vinh Phuc factory, where despite localizing many parts, core components such as engines and electronic control systems still require close supervision from Italian experts.
Vietnamese personnel often take a long time to grasp the "technical mindset" (know-how) behind their stringent quality standards. On the Italian side, due to the characteristics of Italian manufacturing enterprises being medium and small-sized (SMEs), possessing highly specific technological know-how, often heritage accumulated over generations, many enterprises are concerned about technology copyright loss or "copying" in developing markets, with insufficient legal and enforcement systems. This is the biggest barrier when Italian businesses seek investment and cooperation opportunities in Vietnam.
In the new phase, both sides need to maximize the benefits from the EVFTA and prepare for the EVIPA Investment Protection Agreement to take effect (Italy ratified it in 2023) to create a favorable, transparent, and safe environment for investment and trade cooperation.
To effectively leverage each other's strengths, cooperation in the processing and manufacturing industry needs to be built on a methodical roadmap, from standardizing standards to mastering technology. Resolving technical security concerns and enhancing supporting capacity will be the key for Vietnam to successfully adopt Italy's world-leading processing and manufacturing strengths.
In my opinion, specific steps are needed to promote implementation, such as forming specialized industrial clusters dedicated to Italian enterprises to create a synchronized production environment, attracting the shift of supply networks, hiring experienced management experts and engineers from Italy to directly manage key positions in Vietnamese factories to standardize quality management processes according to EU standards. The implementation roadmap needs to go from standardizing standards and accessing technology to production linkage and intellectual transfer. The final step in this roadmap is when Vietnamese enterprises can localize production, independently develop the ecosystem.
From the Embassy's perspective, we also strive to enhance business delegation exchanges to attract investment in this field. From 2022 to now, the Embassy has coordinated to organize many forums, seminars, and economic talks, aiming to establish Vietnam's presence at major forums and fairs in Italy (Macfrut, Salone del Mobile Milano...) to attract high-tech, environmentally friendly production projects, especially in processing and manufacturing fields where Italy has strengths such as food processing, textiles, footwear applying new technology. We will continue to promote these activities in the future.
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| Mr. Walter Cavrenghi, Secretary General of the Italy-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce visiting the Vietnamese booth at an exhibition in Italy. (Source: VNA) |
Having just taken on your term in Italy, could you share your major priorities and aspirations during your term to promote the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Partnership?
I am very honoured to take on the responsibility as the Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy at a time when the Strategic Partnership between the two countries is in a very positive development phase. I hope to work with the Embassy staff to continue promoting bilateral relations to a new, more comprehensive, and substantive level, with specific goals such as (i) Enhancing economic diplomacy to become a breakthrough driver, striving to realize the great potentials between the two economies; effectively exploiting new cooperation fields such as innovation, digital transformation, green economy, and renewable energy... with Italian businesses to promote cooperation in Italy's strong sectors and align with Vietnam's development orientation; (ii) Leveraging common cultural values, cultural diplomacy initiatives, educational cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges to promote a sustainable foundation for all cooperative relations; and (iii) Connecting localities, expanding the cooperation network with regions and cities of Italy, thereby creating specific cooperation projects, bringing practical benefits to the people of both sides. At the same time, consolidating and developing cooperation between political, parliamentary, and academic organizations to build a solid, diverse foundation for the Strategic Partnership, aiming for a new height in the future.
I believe that, with the solid inheritance of achievements from the previous development phase, the high-level leadership's guidance from both countries, along with the dynamism and enthusiasm of the people and businesses, the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Partnership will continue to develop strongly and comprehensively, achieving many brilliant successes.
Thank you very much, Ambassador!
